COVID-19 pandemic will push 47 million more women, girls into extreme poverty by 2021: UN
United Nations: The COVID-19 pandemic will disproportionately affect women and push 47 million more women and girls into extreme poverty by 2021, reversing decades of progress to lift this demographic above the poverty line, according to new data released by the UN.
The new analysis by the UN Women and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said the COVID-19 crisis will dramatically increase the poverty rate for women and widen the gap between men and women who live in poverty.
The poverty rate for women was expected to decrease by 2.7 per cent between 2019 and 2021, but projections now point to an increase of 9.1 per cent due to the pandemic and its fallout.
The pandemic will push 96 million people into extreme poverty by 2021, 47 million of whom are women and girls. This will increase the total number of women and girls living in extreme poverty to 435 million, with projections showing that this number will not revert to pre-pandemic levels until 2030, the UN agencies said.
The projections show that while the pandemic will impact global poverty generally, women will be disproportionately affected, especially women of reproductive age. By 2021, for every 100 men aged 25 to 34 living in extreme poverty (living on USD 1.90 a day or less), there will be 118 women, a gap that is expected to increase to 121 women per 100 men by 2030.
The increases in women's extreme poverty are a stark indictment of deep flaws in the ways we have constructed our societies and economies, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
We know that women take most of the responsibility for caring for the family; they earn less, save less and hold much less secure jobs in fact, overall, women's employment is 19 per cent more at risk than men's, Mlambo-Ngcuka added.
She said that the evidence of multiple inequalities is critical to driving swift, restorative policy action that puts women at the heart of pandemic recovery.
While the pandemic has posed a serious threat to the prospects of eradicating extreme poverty by the end of this decade, the reality is even grimmer as these projections of increased poverty rates for women and girls only account for the downward revision of the gross domestic product (GDP), excluding other factors such as women leaving the workforce due to childcare responsibilities that may also affect the sex distribution of poverty.
More than 100 million women and girls could be lifted out of poverty if governments implement a comprehensive strategy aimed at improving access to education and family planning, fair and equal wages, and expanding social transfers, UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said.
He noted with concern that women are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 crisis as they are more likely to lose their source of income and less likely to be covered by social protection measures.
Investing in reducing gender inequality is not only smart and affordable but also an urgent choice that governments can make to reverse the impact of the pandemic on poverty reduction, he added.
The fallout of the pandemic will shift forecasts of extreme poverty across regions.
The report said that Central and Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (where 87 per cent of the world's extreme poor live) will see the largest increases in extreme poverty, with an additional 54 million and 24 million people, respectively, living below the international poverty line as a result of the pandemic.
The expected rise of poverty in South Asia as a result of the economic fallout of the pandemic showcases the vulnerability of women and girls living in households that have only recently been able to escape poverty, it said.
The pre-pandemic female poverty rate in South Asia was projected to be 10 per cent in 2021 but is now expected to reach 13 per cent.
Moreover, before the pandemic, projections for the region suggested that by 2030 only 15.8 per cent of the world's poor women and girls would be living in South Asia. The revised projections now put that figure at 18.6 per cent.
Significantly more women than men in South Asia will be affected. In the 25-34 age group, there will be 118 poor women for every 100 poor men in that region, and that ratio will increase to 129 women for every 100 men by 2030, the data said.
The report noted that while these figures are alarming, the study estimates it would take just 0.14 per cent of global GDP - USD 2 trillion - to lift the world out of extreme poverty by 2030; and USD 48 billion to close the gender poverty gap. However, the real number could end up being much higher, especially if governments fail to act or act too late.
The unabated rise of other pre-existing gender inequalities will also impact these figures. Women are employed in some of the most affected sectors, like accommodation, food services, and domestic work. They have been particularly vulnerable to layoffs and loss of livelihood.
Recommendations to prevent women from falling behind permanently because of the pandemic range from addressing occupational segregation, gender pay gaps and inadequate access to affordable childcare to introducing economic support packages for vulnerable women to countries increasing social protection measures targeting women and girls and expanding research and data available on the gendered impacts of COVID-19.
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Karnataka activates emergency centres over Middle East airspace closures
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government has fully activated the SEOC and all DEOCs which are functioning 24x7 to monitor the situation and extend necessary assistance following airspace closures in several Middle Eastern countries, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said on Sunday.
The action has been taken on the direction of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in view of the prevailing situation that has disrupted international flight operations.
"In view of the prevailing situation in certain Middle Eastern countries, several nations have declared NOTAM (closure of airspace), resulting in significant disruption to international flight operations," Gowda said in a press note.
He said as per the latest advisory issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, airspace over Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, UAE and Qatar remains closed up to March 2.
Gowda said that due to the disruption in air travel, a large number of passengers from various countries have been stranded in affected Middle Eastern countries, particularly in UAE (Dubai).
The State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) and District Emergency Operations Centres (DEOCs) are regularly updating advisories issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Indian Embassies/Consulates in the affected countries, the minister said, adding that the Karnataka Resident Commissioner has also activated the Karnataka Bhavan team in New Delhi for coordination.
Embassy- and Consulate-wise helpline numbers and advisories have been disseminated to all DEOCs and widely circulated through official social media platforms (X and WhatsApp, etc) for public awareness, he said.
The SEOC and the Office of the Karnataka Resident Commissioner, New Delhi, are in close coordination with the Rapid Response Cell of the Ministry of External Affairs, the minister explained.
Requests for assistance received at the SEOC and DEOCs are being compiled and forwarded to the Karnataka Resident Commissioner's Office and the Ministry of External Affairs, he said.
He urged the people from Karnataka in the affected Middle Eastern countries to strictly adhere to the guidelines and advisories issued by the local governments and to contact the respective Indian Embassies/Consulates through helpline numbers and register on the Sarthi Sahayata portal and other official portals of the Embassies/Consulates concerned.
Gowda said he and Siddaramaiah are continuously monitoring the situation and further updates will be issued as necessary.
